Music

YouTube may tune in to the online music world this year with its own streaming service.

The service would likely offer free music streaming paid for by ads as well as an ad-free subscription option, according to Fortune, which says it was briefed by sources in the record industry and by an unnamed person at Google.

A YouTube representative told CNET that "while we don't comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that."

YouTube's … Read more

Countless different music players are available in the Play Store, but there are only a few that stand out. PowerAMP Music Player for Android is one of them because of its simplicity and solid performance.

Installation and setup of PowerAMP Music Player for Android are fairly simple. This version, however, is a 15-day full-featured trial, and to unlock the full version you have to purchase the PowerAMP Full Version Unlocker for $3.96. The interface of this music player is straightforward and simple. The general layout of the home screen consists of a black background and high-contrast icons. Performance of … Read more

DoubleTwist (free) If there is an adequate iTunes-like music player available on Android, DoubleTwist is it. It is an incredibly simple app that lets you keep your personal collection organized, sync to your desktop, subscribe to podcasts, and even listen to live radio. It can also function as a video player, though it is unquestionably best for listening to tunes.

One of DoubleTwist's most important features, AirSync, lets you wirelessly sync your Android music collection with your desktop PC. This feature is only available as a $4.99 upgrade, but considering the convenience it offers, it is well worth … Read more

Slacker Radio (free) This is a great option for listening to streaming radio, with an intuitive interface that makes it easy to find what you want quickly. To use Slacker you must sign up for an account or log in with your Facebook credentials.

You can search for artists using a field at the top; check out the Music Guide curated by Slacker; or search by genres, stations you've previously listened to, specialty stations, or news, talk, and sports stations. Each selection on the first screen leads to another list where you can swipe to browse selections to find … Read more

Music-streaming services can help you find new artists after giving them suggestions on bands and artists you already like. However, if you want to skip listening until something new plays for you to favorite and look up, try Time Machine on the Hype Machine Web site. The Time Machine feature shows you what was popular over the last five or more years.

Start your music journey by heading to the Time Machine landing page.

Here, you'll find the most popular tracks from last week. But don't stop there; two simple clicks on the year and month that interest … Read more

Music, or should I say most recorded music, is already free; you can get it whenever and wherever you want it and pay nothing.

I've bought thousands of CDs, SACDs, LPs, and a few hundred downloads. Of course, when I started buying music I didn't have too many "free" options, other than radio or taping friends' albums. Radio was a great way to discover new music, but once I heard something I really liked, I bought it. My $3.98 "Led Zeppelin II" LP was a great investment; I've played it hundreds of … Read more

I have been a big fan of Spotify since it reached our shores, but the Spotify iPhone app has been buggy and more difficult to navigate than it need be. Making it all the more frustrating was the fact that the iPhone app was the chief reason why I upgraded to Spotify's premium plan. With this latest update, Spotify on my iPhone now feels worthy of the cost required to operate it.

With the updated Spotify app, you'll encounter the first of its two big new features by swiping to the right to reveal the new sidebar menu. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Discussion: Are you spoiling a movie for yourself by listening to the soundtrack before watching the movie? Inspired by Clint Mansell's new "Stoker" score available to stream.

- Discussion: Which programs are still shown in standard definition?

- The New York Times warns against sitting at work.… Read more

Commercial MP3s and other digital music files provide a wealth of information about the songs in addition to the audio-playback itself. This metadata makes it easy to display the track name, artist, album, and other facts about the songs in your playback device or program.

When you use an application such as the free Audacity audio-editing utility to convert music from LPs, cassettes, or another analog source, the only metadata accompanying the tracks is whatever information you provide when you create the digital file. There's the rub.

In July 2011 I described how to use Audacity to convert LPs and audio cassettes to digital. … Read more